FRANKIE DETTORI on Wednesday appeared to concede that a worldwide ban
from the sport is coming his way after he responded to France Galop’s
announcement of an imminent disciplinary hearing into his failed drug
test by saying he accepted “their conclusions without reservation”.

The sport’s most famous jockey had his worst fears confirmed when a
medical commission passed the details of his positive test for a
prohibited substance to stewards of French racing’s governing body,
which will quickly convene a disciplinary hearing that is widely
expected to result in a six-month ban for the jockey who is about to
forfeit his status as Godolphin’s number-one rider.

The independent commission temporarily revoked Dettori’s licence on
medical grounds, but of far graver concern to Britain’s three-time
champion jockey was its decision that the severity of the evidence took
the case outside the realms of the medical and into the disciplinary
arena, in effect removing the 41-year-old’s last hope of avoiding
sanction.